I have spent over $10,000 on custom wheels for my Lamborghini Aventador through Jorge Prat, the owner of Kartier Forged Wheels, including $2,000 for certifying the new wheels for my Aventador, custom painting, and building the wheel through COR wheels.

Three months later, I received from Kartier Wheels two front wheels that did not even fit an Aventador, as they were too shallow, and after mounting them, they tore into my brakes. I and the intermediary salesperson have been demanding proof of the Aventador testing and certifications over the last 6 months since purchase, but the owner of Kartier Forged Wheels, Jorge Prat, refuses to provide the certifications we paid for and also refuses to pay for the damages to the brakes.

The improperly designed front wheels were eventually replaced, but Kartier Forged used a different painter for these replaced front wheels from the original four wheels. NOW for the nightmare of the REAR WHEELS as well! On September 29th 2016, I’m driving home and there is an explosive bang, the driver’s side rear wheel breaks apart, the tire blows, and I almost hit a pedestrian. I initially thought it was a large metal piece in the road that ruptured the tire, but after examining the wheel, half of the bolts were missing on the wheel, the inner and outer barrels were separated apart, and the bolts on both rear wheels were loose enough that I could loosen them with just my fingers. My car had to be towed to Lamborghini Manhattan who confirmed that the rear wheels were completely improperly tightened and this is what caused the breakage of the wheel and tire. If this had happened on the highway or on any track, my life would have been endangered. I quote from my auto shop: "I have been in this business 25 plus years and reassembled many wheels, it looks to me whomever painted them just put them together hand tight and forgot to torque them to specification, on top of that they didn't use lock tight or any sort of locking flange bolts."

COR wheels made these wheels for this Kartier wheel line. I will not endanger my life or anyone else's life until I have proof that these wheels were properly torqued and certified AFTER painting and that this won't happen again. What is the customer service response I receive from the owner of Kartier Forged, Jorge Prat?

This is the text I receive from him on 10/12/16 at 8:20pm: "I have an option for you but first I will restate these rear wheels were damaged, both rear inner barrels are bent, Only one tire went flat, the wheels sustained damage to the outside of the lip, The rivets came back all set at different torque specs than they were sent to you with. This is not a warranty issue. My option is as follows. I will cover the inner barrels so you will not vibrate when you're driving the car, place new rivets, and ship them to be installed at Tony's Tire in Newark N.J. where they will check in front of you the torque spec. This will only be possible if you are willing to sign a document stating that if these wheels are tampered with again, if the torque is changed in any way by any shop and you attempt to contact me to cover someone else's mistake again then you will be in breach and forfeit the money I would be now covering for your shop's error. You would then not only have to return the money in full but also be summoned for litigation."

Firstly, it is SHOCKING that Kartier’s owner would dare accuse me of contacting him "to cover someone else's mistake again". Secondly it is unprofessional to blame me or anyone else for tampering with the bolt torques (WHY would ANYONE do that?) and refuse to acknowledge the wheels defects. Thirdly, Jorge Prat refuses to take responsibility for the wheels and the damage resulting from their poor manufacturing (the front wheels didn't even fit and damaged my brakes, and the rear wheels fell apart and Kartier Forged refuses to honor their warranty, pay for any damages, tires, labor, towing, shipping or refund of the wheels). Of course the barrels were damaged, the wheels separated on failure, the tire blew, and the wheels crashed into the pavement from the impact and nearly caused complete loss of control of the car, and the car had to be towed away.

My response to Jorge Prat owner of Kartier Forged by text on 10/13/16 at 10:23pm was: "No one touched the bolts. Or the wheels… Perhaps your painter undid the bolts while painting. Before I agree to anything, send me proof of the torque inspection sign off AFTER painting for both front and rear wheels.” On 10/14/16 I also ask proof of all TUR certifications that were checked on my wheel including the wheel test certification that I paid for and Jorge Prat has refused to provide over the last 6 months. To this the owner of Kartier wheels replies, “I contacted COR, they will not be releasing any quality control documents that are for company use.” COR wheels has nothing to lose to by providing torqueing certification if Kartier truly did send it to them after painting if they followed their TUR certification standards – I leave that to Chris Robles owner of COR wheels to comment.

This is the last email I received from Kartier Wheels owner Jorge Prat 10/14/16 at 7:32pm: “My offer to resolve this amicably stands, if you do not accept my offer please advise me on how you would like to pay for shipment of your (broken) wheels back to you.” Note this owner also even refused to pay for shipping to him so that he could inspect the broken wheels. I quote again what Jorge Prat of Kartier Forged provides as an “amicable solution” when you spend over $10,000 on a set of wheels – he will pay for fixing the wheels if I am “willing to sign a document stating that if these wheels are tampered with again, if the torque is changed in any way by any shop and you attempt to contact me to cover someone else's mistake again then you will be in breach and forfeit the money I would be now covering for your shop's error. You would then not only have to return the money in full but also be summoned for litigation."

I tell you what, the only solution at this time is for Jorge Prat to issue an apology and refund this JOKE of a $10,000 set of “custom wheels”. If he does so, I will publically acknowledge it. Until that time (i.e. never) he should know what he can do with them. Let me reiterate, NO ONE SHOULD EVER BUY FROM KARTIER WHEEL OWNER JORGE PRAT!!! He will blame everyone EXCEPT Kartier Forged for any defects, he will NEVER honor his warranty, and he will NEVER pay for damages or expenses to your car due to his defective wheels. He and his company should receive the Karma that they rightfully deserve and I hope NO ONE falls for his criminal behavior or purchases another set of wheels from him. Remember, he may change his branding, but remember the owner’s name – Jorge Prat. Feel free to pass along to other forums/publications to warn others.

Why am I posting on an Audi forum? Because the owners oftentimes customize their rides with forged wheels as their cars look cool (especially the R8) and Lambos share AUDI stuff. No one should have to go through what I went through with a wheel company, especially from the company's owner. I do cringe at imagining what could have happened if this occurred on the highway.

Note that this warning continues into 2017. Jorge Prat has changed his name to George Manuel. Do not fall for this scam, this is the same owner of Kartier Wheels from Florida. This con artist continues to try to deceive the unsuspecting...